It’s time to get out the shoulder pads, helmets and stadium blankets – but you don’t need to hit the field to enjoy some terrific books about football. Here are some of the latest stories to hit the shelves in the Children’s Library.

Twelve-year-old Troy’s uncanny gift for predicting football plays proves a powerful secret weapon for the Atlanta Falcons, but a seedy reporter with a vendetta suspects something is going on and sets out to shred the reputations of Troy and star linebacker Seth Halloway.

Twelve-year-old Michael, confined to a wheelchair after an accident, uses mental telepathy to communicate football plays to his quarterback twin brother Tom, then suddenly finds himself on the field in his brother’s place.

Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie’s family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot’s game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.

Sam is proud that his touchdown in the final play of a game left his football team undefeated, but when a videorecording of the game reveals that the touchdown was scored illegally, he and the other Cowboys must decide whether to reveal the truth. Includes facts about a similar situation faced by Cornell University’s team after a game with Dartmouth in 1940.

A boy and his pet dragon meet up with their friends and play football.

Nonfiction

Just the facts? You can score a touchdown with the large selection of information books about the game of football, as well as individual players, teams and conference available in the Children’s Library. Here are just two of the newest nonfiction titles in the collection.

Numbers are used all the time in football. A touchdown is 6 points. A football is about 11 inches long. An overtime period lasts 15 minutes. It is 30 feet from the ground to the top of the goalposts. A field goal is 3 points. Learn more about how numbers are used in football.

– A spread of amazing trivia about each professional team
– History of the early days of the game
– Pioneers in the sport
– Photographs of today’s stars and the legends of the game
– Comic illustrations
– High-interest stats, stars, and lists
– An appendix that gives a quick primer on the some of the least-known rules of the game

A picture is worth a thousand words and this photographic undersea journey featuring oversize pictures of unique creatures that live in the world’s oceans, including sharks, whales, seahorses, crabs, eels, and others is sure to please.

Have you wondered what those icons to the right of this box are all about? Are you looking for good new books to read? If so, you may be interested in signing up for the library’s BookLetters. There are monthly lists of books with descriptions and photos that come directly to your email in-box. There are two lists for children: Children’s Picture Books and Children’s Chapter Books plus others for teens and adults. You can also sign up for news from The Children’s Library and your local branch. There is an icon on the library’s homepage where you can sign up, use the icons to the right or use this link: Bookletters.

Over the course of one summer at a Maine boatyard, two girls observe a pair of mallard ducks as the female produces eggs, which eventually hatch into ducklings that slowly mature until they are almost ready to migrate south.

Although John Wesley Powell’s minister father always wanted his son to follow in his footsteps, young Wes had different plans for his future. Enraptured by the wonders of the natural world, he was determined to take the path of science. Even after losing his right arm below the elbow in battle during the Civil War, Wes would not be deterred from his dream of leading the first scientific expedition down the Colorado River and through the Grand Canyon. Braving treacherous rapids and perilous waterfalls, Major Powell would surpass all expectations and return home a national hero.

Before Jacques Cousteau became an internationally known oceanographer and champion of the seas, he was a curious little boy. In this biography, poetic text and paintings combine to create a portrait of Jacques Cousteau.

As a child growing up in Australia, Annette Kellerman was a frail ugly duckling who dreamed of becoming a graceful ballerina. With courage and determination, she confronted a crippling illness to become an internationally known record-setting athlete who revolutionized the sport of swimming for women, a movie star who invented water ballet, and a fashion revolutionary who modernized the swimsuit.

A biography of Korean American diving champion Sammy Lee, focusing on how his childhood determination and his father’s dreams set the stage for a medical career as well as his athletic achievements which earned him Olympic gold medals in 1948 and 1952.